Former college chief gets $1.3M

Published: June 29, 2014 4:00AM

TOLEDO -- The University of Toledo's president is set to receive $1.3 million in salary and bonuses over the next three years after he steps down at the end of this month, angering some faculty members and students.

The school's board of trustees agreed to pay Lloyd Jacobs while he is on a yearlong leave and allow him to return as a professor in the university's department of surgery.

Jacobs announced just over a week ago that he will leave his post at the end of June. He will spend the next year working an unpaid position with a global economic development organization in Washington, D.C.

Jacobs is to receive an annual salary of $392,000 over the next three years and one-time payment of $150,000.

The school also will give Jacobs travel expenses, a vehicle and allow him to live at the university's presidential home over the next year.

The size of the payout upset some faculty members, said Harvey Wolff, president of the Toledo chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

"At a time when faculty members haven't been given a raise for three years ... it seems excessive in terms of the perks and things he got," he told The Blade (http://bit.ly/1pAPG19).

Clayton Notestine, president of the university's student government, said it's disconcerting because of the amount and because little has been said about why Jacobs is leaving.

Jacobs has not commented publicly on his departure since it was announced.

Joseph H. Zerbey IV, chairman of the university's board of trustees, said Jacobs deserved to be treated generously because of his accomplishments at the school.

The compensation package was not out of line with those at other universities, Zerbey said.

Former Ohio State University president Gordon Gee, who retired under a cloud after remarks jabbing Roman Catholics and Southeastern Conference schools, received a $5.8 million package over five years.